Five reasons Democrats will miss Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann’s departure from the US congress is great news for my little corner of the world. Her retirement is another step in the right (or, technically, left) direction for Minnesota’s progressives, who are on something of a roll lately with the defeat of a voter ID law and the passage of marriage equality legislation. (We did lose gay rights advocate and Vikings football punter Chris Kluwe, and spring seems to have been cancelled – but other than that, it’s been a great year.)
Still, there’s a bittersweet aftertaste to Bachmann’s announcement for Democrats at the national level. Here are the five reasons for Democrats to regret not having Bachmann to kick around anymore.
1) Her outrageous comments were a fundraising goldmine
The Democratic National Committee started going to the Bachmann well of crazy during her early rise as a Tea Party leader, featuring her in an ad about GOP leaders who want to “abolish” Medicare. As her profile grew, and she kept talking, the DNC kept putting up videos about her and using Democrats’ appalled reactions to solicit donations.
It’s impossible to know how much cash came into the committee on the back of Bachmann’s kookiness and fact-mangling – though the DNC could definitely tell us – but it must’ve been working, because political parties don’t keep doing things that don’t work. It should be noted that Bachmann herself was a prodigious fundraiser, garnering over $15m for her race in 2012 – but Democrats can’t even celebrate a blow to Republicans’ coffers, as Bachmann was notoriously stingy with using her funds to support other GOP candidates. The GOP can’t be hurt by losing money they never had.
2) Her seat is likely to stay Republican
More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/29/five-reasons-democrats-will-miss-michele-bachmann/
= new reply since forum marked as read
